A slightly more affordable option for the not-so-super-rich is a suborbital space flight. Several companies, including Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, want to send large numbers of tourists to an altitude of 100-160 kilometers.

The tourists would experience around six minutes of weightlessness and get a view of the Earth's curvature. Virgin Galactic has taken around 200 bookings for their suborbital flights, which may begin in 2011. A seat on board one of the first voyages currently costs £120,000, but Sir Richard Branson has said the price should drop significantly in the future. Other companies exploring the possibility of suborbital space tourism include Blue Origin, Space Adventures, Armadillo Aerospace, and XCOR Aerospace.